James P. McGovern: controlled by the chair or ranking member of the foreign affairs. to final adoption without intervening motions. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for one hour.

James P. McGovern: mr. mcgovern: i all time yield straightforward debate only. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i also ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on house resolution 1146. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. thgentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: house resolution 146 provides for the consideration of h.con.res.

James P. McGovern: 248, directing the president, pursuant to section 5-c of the war powers resolution, to remove the united states armed forces from afghanistan. the rule provides three hours of general debate in the house with 90 mines controlled by representative kucinich and 90 minutes controlled by the committee on foreign affairs. the rule waives all points of order against consideration of

James P. McGovern: the concurrent resolution and provides the concurrent resolution shall be considered as read. mr. speaker, this is an important day and an important debate in the house of representatives. last summer i had the privilege of traveling to afghanistan and meeting with our brave troops. they are an incredible group of people, proud of their

James P. McGovern: accomplishments, thoughtful, and candid about the challenges that confront them. they deserve tonow that we are thinking about them and do not take their lives or their fate for granted. it has been far too long since congress had a full and open debate on the issue of u.s. policy in afghanistan. in 2001, i voted along with the

James P. McGovern: vast majority of my colleagues to go after the terrorists who attacked us on september 11. i believe we must have a comprehensive strategy to counter the global threat posed by al qaeda and its affiliates no matter where they are in the world. afghanistan, pakistan, somalia, yemen, north africa, and elsewhere.

James P. McGovern: but i also believe we have serious challenges right here at home. millions of americans are out of work. our economy is just now beginning to emerge from the worst recession in decades. our schools, our health care, our tax code, our infrastructure all must be updated for the 21st century if we are to create a better america.

James P. McGovern: mr. speaker, the war in fghanistan has caused u.s. taxpayers well over $200 billion. none of it paid for. none of it paid for. all of that money has been added on to our debt. and those costs will continue to rise as we fund increasing troop levels and provide the necessary care tour veterans when they return home.

James P. McGovern: and our policy has drastically changed in those eight years. we are no longer just going after the bad guys. we are engaged in a massive nation building effort in afghanistan. now, i certainly don't believe we should abandon the afghan people. but instead of nation building in afghanistan, i'll introduce more nation building here at home.

James P. McGovern: our allies in afghanistan, the karzai government, do not inspire confidence. the recent election there was characterized by widespread fraud and corruption. and just 10 days ago mr. karzai unilaterally rewrote the election law to ensure that he could handpick the members of

James P. McGovern: the election monitoring commission that oversees voting irregularities. talk about the fox guarding the chicken coop. over 1,000 u.s. service men and women have sacrificed their lives in afghanistan. over 670 more lives have been lost by our native military allies.

James P. McGovern: thousands more have been wooded. many severely in ways that will affect their lives. suicide and posttraumatic stress among our troops and veterans increases. last summer i offered an amendment to require the administration to develop an exit strategy for our military involvement in afghanistan. while my amendment did not

James P. McGovern: carry the day, i believe it demonstrated to the administration that an open-ended commitment was not suainable. as we know president obama outlined such a strategy in his speech at west point and i believe it is essential that we in the congress work to keep the administration to its word.

James P. McGovern: we must fulfill our constitutional responsibilities by making sure that taxpayer funds are spent wisely and with complete accountability and transparency for every dime and every dollar. no more halliburton and black water scandals. no more projects where fat cat middlemen walk off with the money while the afghan people

James P. McGovern: go without hospitals, schools, roads or food. mr. speaker, i hope that this is just the first not the last debate that we have on the house floor this year over our policy in afghanistan. the issue is simply too important. the future at stake is to grave. we have sacrificed too much in the lives and well-being of our soldiers and the cost to our